The Fourth Night

"Did ya hear that? There’s riches found every night, all over the town! No way you can miss that!"

It happened on sergeant’s Wilkins last watch. He was just coming back with others, when something reflected the light of his torch. And right next to the fountain, he found it.

It was a small statue, a foot tall, of an exotic design not seen in this town. And it was pure gold, with precious stones of fine quality. The sergeant thought it was a fake, and brought it to his superiors. He spent the next few days getting drunk and telling everyone how stupid he is.

It was the next night, when the story really sunk in. There were found medallions, small golden pieces, each with a gemstone, and the same design as the statue. Nobody knows how many. It was in the night, at fountains, street corners, inns and alehouses. Must have been dozens.

The next morning, two or three leftovers were found. And everybody knew.

In the third night, there will be hundreds, no, thousands searching the city. Where is gold coming from? They all have their own idea… and nobody really cares.

Possible Explanations:

1. And they will burn
The whole diversion was started by agents of a neighboring kingdom. The third night there will be nothing. In the fourth night, shortly before the morning when everybody is asleep and tired, they will set the city aflame, from several places at once. The design is completely invented.

2. Now I see you
The exotic design comes from an exotic land, as a few sources will be able to confirm. From that land escaped someone important, hiding here. In all the confusion, nobody will suspect a few men looking for "an amulet like this or something similar". Some will recall who carried such a thing. In the fourth night, the posse will find the person that thought himself safe, and proceed to kidnap or assassinate him. They are in a hurry.

3. And they deserve it
On the third night, hundreds of of precious coins will be found, creating spontaneous celebrations. The last night they will turn into a riot, when more wealth fails to materialize… and many will die. An old priest of a neglected religion is cursing the people for their greed and selfishness. The gold comes from holy relics, that he has melted down, from his church, that has fallen apart for lack of funding. He can be found there, praying for an end to their selfishness, and mercy for him.

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There are still more explanations possible. One I came up with just now, are the local spirits/elements/whatever, that are canceling their alliance (or non-attacking treaty) with the locals, by returning the offerings from before. What, you didn't know? Is half a millennium really that hard to remember for humans?

Soon gold is soon covering the street. Everyone has more than they know what to do with.

Money loses all value. Bartering must be done instead. Social collapse is a possibility here, as the entire social hierarchy would be upset.

As time goes on if the source is not stopped it could be a down right curse. What started off as a single statute, could end up being feet of gold coin piling up in the street across the town. Becoming a hassle and in some cases even dangerous to people. People getting trapped indoors. Roofs collapsing, if the gold starts appearing there.

Issues with people from less 'gifted' towns raiding for their piece of the pie.

...
Hopefully the players figure out what is going on before it gets really bad.

Of course this might be game altering, so when the players find the source or cause, the produced treasure should probably disappear.

Codex

Freetext

As they are travelling along the road, the characters come upon a carriage under Goblin attack. They rush to the rescue and defeat the attackers, but the owners of the carriage, a man and a woman, are already dead. As they rummage through the corpses looking for gold and valuables they hear a noise coming from inside the carriage. Investigating, they find a young child hiding underneath one of the benches. What will they do with this orphan?